


Unconventional Family

by imagineheadcanonsarea



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Drugs, Dysfunctional Family, Eventual Romance, F/F, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Love, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motherhood, Sexual Violence, True Love, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 05:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18614236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineheadcanonsarea/pseuds/imagineheadcanonsarea
Summary: "The way Cordelia looked at her made her go weak in the knees. She was about to die, she knew it and Cordelia also knew it. Madison had done a lot of fucked up things through life, most of them involving Cordelia, and yet the woman trusted her. She had no one else, she had no family, all she had was Cordelia and it had been like that for years now."





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: You might want to take care while reading this, there is mentions of violence, sexual abuse, drugs and alcohol use, and depression.  
> Please, let me know if there are any grammatical mistake!  
> Originally thought after a request on Tumblr, go follow me there, @imagineheadcanonsarea

When her mother told her that she was a witch, Madison, at the time with eleven years old, thought that she might had go insane. But then that could explain why she had shut her door closed just imagining it happening during a argument with her mother just two days before.

At age twelve her mother said it was something that ran in her father’s family, apparently she had a cousin that was also a witch, but that lineage was slowly dying since in every generation they had less and less ‘gifted’ womans borning in the family. At age fourteen, this weird woman with a red hair and terrible clothes showed up in her house to tell her about Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies and how she would have a place to stay with people who understood her, somewhere where she could learn and grow her powers.

Her mother told the woman that Madison was going nowhere. At first, Madison was touched by her mothers reaction, because that meant she wanted her daughter to stay around. Her mother was not the most affectionate person in the world, they barely hugged at all, and maybe her mother said ‘I love you’ twice during Madison’s life, but there she was, denying some creepy invitation so her only daughter could stay at home with her. Of course reality slapped Madison in the face only a week later when her mother sent her over 2000 miles away to shoot some teen movie while she took the flight to the opposite direction to spent a few days at Bahamas.

When she was just two months from being sixteen, Madison decided that her mother could not take all decision for her, especially when the girl kept asking her to stop accepting jobs in shitty movies or agree when the directors asked Madison to remove her top. She was done. So Madison used her credit card to buy a ticket to New Orleans, leaving a very angry Ms. Montgomery screaming behind her. Her father, as usual, was nowhere to be seen.

Madison didn’t knew what to expect when she reached the Academy that woman told her about, but for sure it wasn’t an abandonaded place. There was no one around, even the house next door was empty with a big ‘Sale’ sign, and the old sign that read ‘Robichaux’s Academy’ was about to fall. For the first time, Madison wondered if she was insane for doing that. She had a house, a big house, a career, fame, she didn’t need those creepy old ladies to do something with her life.

She was just about to turn around and leave when a black car parked in front of the big white mansion. Madison watched as a woman, around her twenties, blonde with brown eyes and a shy smile stepped outside the car, holding several bags from a supermarket. The woman was talking with a man that was following her with more bags, so she took a while to notice Madison there, but when she did the woman almost dropped the things in her hands.

“Hello?”

Madison had learned a long time ago that friendliness usually took you nowhere. Her mother never talked with her with affection if she wanted Madison to do something and her father’s voice was always filled with boredoom and sarcasm, not to mention the directors and producers always screaming and yelling, so the girl never learned how to act in another way, she didn’t had no one to look at to be nice, nor did she had any reasons to be.

“What is this shit hole? I did not signed up for this.”

The woman arched her eyebrown in shock, turning her head to look at the man behind her for a couple seconds, quietly communicating with him. When she looked at Madison again, she was bitting her lips. “I’m sorry, I think you’re in the wrong place. We’re not expecting anyone. What’s your name, honey?”

Both Madison and the strange man looked at her a little in shock. Madison was not used to people asking who she was. “This place don’t own a fucking TV?”

“Sweetie.” The man moved his bags so he could poke the older blonde in her shoulder. Madison could not hear what he said next, but the woman was even more confused by it, like the girl was from another planet.

That was the first time Madison ever saw Cordelia – and Hank.

Madison only needed two minutes inside the house to realize she was the only one there (“This is very empty for a Academy,” she said). It took her less than thirty seconds to realized Cordelia was not expecting for her and that she had no clue what to do. It was funny for a while, but after her first week there only reading some old books she was done with it.

“Isn’t this place supposed to be a school or something?!” She asked one day during dinner after Cordelia handed her another book – that one was so old that the cover was missing and some bug had eat the first few pages.

Cordelia’s face was red seconds after. Madison rolled her eyes when she saw Hank putting his hand on top of his wife’s to give her some sort of confort. “I... I’m sorry, Madison, but Myrtle didn’t tell me that you would come and I didn’t had nothing ready for you.”

“No shit.” Madison tried to use her power to sent the old book to the garbage, but it fell down midway and she frowned. She was also supposed to be getting better at that. “You better figure it out, Cordy, because I’m not going to read another stupid book.”

And Cordelia did figure it out. Surprisingly. Two days later – if Madison had payed attention she would had realized that Cordelia didn’t slept those nights so she could do some plainning – she woke up Madison before 10am, the normal time for the girl to wake up, and their classes started.

Madison found out that Cordelia couldn’t do many things with her magic, but she also could see how hard the woman was trying so she could help Madison. By the time her birthday came, she was already able to lift more than ten objects at once – she still was working in moving all of them. For her surprise, Cordelia woke her up that morning with a small cake and a gift, along with a huge smile and open arms – she knew Madison was not a big fan of contact, so she let the girl decide if she wanted the hug ot not. For both of their surprise, Madison fell in her arms without hesitate.

The teenager felt... happy, something that she couldn’t remember ever feeling. Cordelia would teach her until noon everyday, so they would have lunch together and eat some ice cream as a deseart, so Madison would have the whole afternoon to train the things her teacher had showed her and read the books that Cordelia insist that she should. Hank would be back from whatever his job was and they would all have dinner together, and Madison would go to her room after that.

 

* * *

 

Hank was almost never home. He was gone right after breakfast, spent all day out and only returned around dinner. He also traveled a lot, a least twice a month he would be out for the whole weekend or even weeks, but Madison never found out why. She knew it had to do with his job, but Cordelia never said anything to her about it and she never asked.

Once, a few days after her sixteen birthday, he got home surprising Cordelia, who thought he would only be back the next day. Madison was not feeling very well, so she skiped dinner and stayed in her room going throught her social midias and talking with some old friends. When Madison was getting ready for bed, putting on her PJ's that consisted in a small short and nothing else, she sensed someone looking at her, and when she turned around there was Hank, standing outside her room. He started to walk away the second he realized she had spotted him, but Madison could see that he was talking on the phone.

The next morning he found her in the kitchen, waiting for Cordelia to get there so they could start breakfest.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that I wasn't spying on you last night." He said and the blush on his face almost made Madison believe in him. "My phone rangged and I picked it up and got stuck there. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to look or anything."

Madison always had the power to smell bullshit from far. She could sense that he was only parcially telling the truth, she just wasn't sure about what he was lying. She decided to sleep with a shirt from that day on.

 

* * *

 

"I did it!" Madison was jumping up and down in her excitment, a large smile spread all over her face, her hands in fists that she was bumping in the air.

"What? That was your first try!" Cordelia was also smiling, a proud look all over her face when she rested her hand in Madison's lower back. "Can you do that again?"

Madison closed her eyes to concentrate enought to make the table and the chairs all move to the ceiling (her teacher wanted her to make it cross the room, but she thought it was lame). She felt the well-know feeling of her Magic running through her body and into the tip of her fingers and she knew that yes, she could do that again. The girl opened her eyes in time to see the table hit the ceiling softly, so she held it there for a while until Cordelia would be satisfied by it - or impressed. The older blonde started to clap, a happy laugh leaving her while she watched her student - her only student - perform that spell so easily.

"That's amazing, Maddie!"

Cordelia was not the first one to call her like that, but she was the first one who ever said it with such a happy look on her face, pulling Madison in her arms to give her a hug and kiss the top of her head. The former actress still acted like she hated those moments of affection, so she rolled her eyes and tried to push the woman away, even if her hand barely touched her shoulder and that both knew she was also happy.

"What about we celebrate with ice cream?" Cordelia asked when she pulled away.

Madison arched her eyebrowns in surprise. "It's not four yet, I have to pratice."

The teacher waved her hand to scoff that. "You can do that tomorrow, right now we're going to celebrate the perfect execution of your power in the first try. Come on, we can go to the shop in the corner."

 

* * *

 

"Mother, I know you can't actually do it, but can you please be nice? Madison is our only student and she's a good girl and an amazing witch, if you..."

"I'm sorry, Cordelia, did I ever gave you the impression that I care?" Madison could only hear Fiona's voice, but she already disliked her. She wasn't talking with Cordelia in a nice way, in fact, she sounded exactly like Madison's mom.

"Who are you?" Madison asked as soon as she entered the kitchen. Cordelia had said that her mother would appear in the house later that month, but Madison still had an attitude.

The woman, who had a cigarette in her mouth, let go a deep laugh, mocking Madison while blowing the smoke away. "Who are you, little failed project?"

"Mother." Cordelia warned, walking towards Madison to put one hand on her shoulder. "This is Madison. Madison, that's my mother, Fiona."

Madison was only sixteen, but she was no fool anymore. She could see how tense Cordelia was and how Fiona had an aura of power around her that made the girl feel unconfortable under her gaze. "I have to apologize, I suppose, for leaving you here with my incompetent daughter, but I have more important things to do. As the Supreme I can't sit around and..."

"What's a Supreme?" Madison had read many books about magic, but none of them talked about that. In fact, many books never talked about any history around magic, only spells and potions, and she wondered if Cordelia had choose those ones specifically for her.

Fiona could only roll her eyes, clearly unsatisfied by everything. "What are you teaching to this girl, Cordelia? How to sew and marry unfitting man? Does she even know how to clean her own ass?"

"Mother, let's just..."

"A Supreme..." Fiona started, lighting another cigarette in the process. "Is the most powerful witch in the world."

When Fiona was done talking, Madison was facinated by the idea of it. Of the Supreme. A woman so powerful that could trick death. When Madison stoped talking with Cordelia a few months later, she replaced her mentor with Fiona and the Supreme started to be who she was looking up to.

 

* * *

 

Madison kept pushing the shopping cart behind Cordelia, sighing at every minute or so to make her point. She was bored. Grocery's stores weren't made to be fun, but that lame song was making it ten times worse, not to mention how slow the older woman was moving, taking her time to read every label she came across. Who needs to read the milk label, really?

Madison wished she had anything else to do, but her other option was to stay home alone, and to be honest she didn't thought grocery shopping would be that bad. So yeah, the only choice she had was to follow Cordelia throught the aisles, fighting the urgence to hit someone with the cart - specially that kid who pointed at her and screamed for no reason at all.

"Madison, can you grab the noodles? Choose whatever you want."

She almost asked who was going to cook those. When Hank decided that he wanted to cook, Madison would spent days living on cookies, because it always tasted like crap. It would be a wast to let him ruin a good noodle. Sighing one more time, Madison walked to the shelf and took three packages out of it. Cordelia kept walking and reading the flour label, turning to the next aisle after looking over her shoulder to see if the younger girl was still behind her.

They entered the good part, Madison thought. Chocolates, cookies, biscuits and chips, all the good stuff. But, of course, Cordelia walked fast to get out of there and reach the yogurts in the end. With an eye roll, Madison followed her again, only to stop suddenly just before her cart hit Cordelia.

"Do you want a chocolate?"

Her mother never let her eat any of those things. She had to keep her shape to get new parts, so anything delicious was forbidden in her house since she could remember.

"Sure." She shrugged. It's not like Madison never ate chocolate, because she had, but she never did it enough to have a favorite one, so she just turned so she was facing the shelf and the inumerous options and kept staring at it for a while.

"It's okay, you can have more than one." Cordelia giggled, thinking that was the reason why the girl hadn't moved yet.

Madison, without noticing, bitten her bottom lip, considering the differente packages and colours. "Which one do you like?"

"Oh, don't worry about me! I will eat whatever we have, if I ever eat anyway."

Not helping. The former actress frowned, finally moving to take one of the chocolates in her hand. She couldn't believe she was about to do that, since she was mocking it non stop since she stepped in the supermarket, but Madison turned the pack around so she could read the label.

"Madison, I don't want to offend you or anything, but... you look like you're holding a bomb." Cordelia tried to laugh to light the mood, but Madison's blush made her reconsider how to approach the situation. "You don't know which one you want?" She offered.

Madison opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again, before rolling her eyes. "You could say that."

"Ok." Cordelia stoped by her side, took a deep breath and said: "Don't tell Hank, this is his credit card." Before starting to grab all the different chocolate bars to put in the cart.

Madison only watched while her teacher took enough chocolate from the shelf to feed an army. "What are you doing?"

"We have a girls night tomorrow." Cordelia had a gentle smile when she looked back at Madison, throwing the last chocolate on top of the big pile. "We will find out what is your favorite chocolate."

She knew, Madison realized. She just knew, like most things, Cordelia just knew. The younger girl smiled when her teacher and her started to walk side by side to reach the yogurts.

 

* * *

 

"What do you want to do tonight?"

"I thought Hank would be back by now." Madison never gave much thought about her teacher's husband. He didn't seemed a nice guy, he also didn't looked so bad, but Madison always felt like something was wrong with him.

Cordelia shruged. "He is, but I thought we could have a girls night."

If Madison thought it was weird, she didn't mention it. But yet, she totally did. "You want to have a girls night with a teenager?" The girl arched her eyebrown. "How old are you anyway? And should I call the cops?"

"Ha-ha-ha, Madison, you're so funny, I can't believe it." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "For your information, I'm 28, no cops needed, and yes, a girls night will be fun. We can watch a movie."

"Why?" Madison was looking at the woman over her book, a little frown on her face like she couldn't see the point in doing what Cordelia was suggesting.

"Because we have cable TV and free time." Cordeloa mocked. "What? You never had a girls night before?"

Madison decided not to answer with the truth. "No." She had planty of them, usually with the friends she met in the sets or auditions, but all of them were only around because they wanted Madison's fame to splash a little on them too. Madison knew that and they knew she knew that, so all they did was exercise their acting abilities pretending to like each other.

"Get ready then. I will make us some popcorn and you can choose the movie."

And boy, did Madison made Cordelia regret her decision a few minutes later when she chose Friday 13th as their movie.

 

* * *

 

"What are we doing today?"

"Actually..." Cordelia got up from her chair to walk to the sink and clean her mug. "I have to go to the mall. Christmas is coming and we need a new fairy light."

"Oh." Madison frowned. In the months she was living in the Academy, Cordelia never let her alone to study on her own, and she definitelly wasn't going to do that if nobody was watching. "Okay, are you giving me another book?"

"No, no." The woman turned around shaking her head. "I mean, if you want, you can go with me. We can leave around 10am and have lunch there, I think I can use this time to search for some gifts too."

"You're not making me go to the Gap, are you?"

Cordelia giggled. "I was thinking about getting you something from there."

"You wouldn't dream about it, bitch."

That Christmas, Madison received a card from her parents - it wasn't even from them, one of Madison's aunts wrote and sent it for all of them. She refused Cordelia's idea to go home for the Holiday and spent the Christmas with Hank and her teacher at the Academy. For her surprise, she did received a shirt that said GAP in it, but Cordelia was only making fun of her and they did share a laugh on her reaction.

Cordelia gave her a nice pingent for her to add in her wistband. A small cauldron.

 

* * *

 

"Are you busy?"

Cordelia was looking at some papers, there was a big pile of them on the table and much more in a huge garbage bag by her feet, she was wearing her glasses and bitting her bottom lip while deciding which ones she had to keep. As soon as she heard Madison, she looked up and smiled. "Just cleaning the room."

"Why?" Madison walked in to look around.

"Someone has to." The woman laughed and took her glasses off. "I'm thinking about making this room my office. You know, some formal place to keep papers and stuff. Myrtle said it used to be the principal's office back in her days and I don't think Fiona ever took care of the paperwork in here, so I have to do it before decorating. But that dosen't mater now, what do you need?"

The younger blonde shrugged. "I was just wondering if you could help me with something."

"What is it?"

"I'm trying to learn transmutation."

"Oh." Cordelia seemed surprised by it, she clearly had no idea Madison was interested in that. "Well, Maddie, you know that most witches can only perform one power or two. Do you think that transmutation might..."

She didn't finished talking since Madison interrupted her with a grin. "I'm sure I can do it, I just not sure how. Maybe you have a book that I can find the informations I want?"

"Transmutation is a very dangerous thing to do, Maddie."

"I could figure that out." She rolled her eyes to tease the woman.

Cordelia sighed, taking her time to answer the girl. "I don't want you to try on your own, okay?" She finally said, already getting up to walk to her room and grab a book she thought might help. "You can read all you want, but you will only try anything if I'm there, got it?"

"Well, you're not my boss." Madison joked, hidding her smile on Cordelia's back. "I promisse I will be a good girl."

"Ha-ha very funny. I'm serious." Cordelia went inside her room, leaving the door open so Madison could follow her, but the girl only stayed by the door, looking around in curiosity for a few seconds. "I don't want you to get hurt doing something you weren't ready to, so you will read it and re-read it five times before you come talk to me so we can figure it out."

Madison usually forgets that Cordelia didn't had a power of her own. The woman always seemed so smart, like she knew everything about magic and how to use it, that it was easy to forget she could only mix some potions here and there. So of course they would have to figure it out, because Cordelia herself didn't knew how to do it.

"I will read it once." Madison rolled her eyes. "And go talk to you."

Cordelia walked back at her, a old black book in her hands. Madison strached her arm to reach it, but Cordelia pulled it away before she could. "I have a deal."

The former actress moaned in despair with the new information. "Come on, Cordelia, I'm not going to be nicer with the new neighbors, don't ask me that shit."

"That wasn't it, but it could be." Cordelia raised her eyebrowns. "If you're going to try to learn new things, you will have to learn potions too."

"That's so boring, I'm not going to do that."

"All types of magic are important, Madison. Take it or leave it."

They stared at each other for a while, until Madison rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine, but if that shit get too boring, I'm walking away."

 

* * *

 

Madison saw Myrtle before, when the woman showed up in her house to invite her to attend Robichaux's Academy, but nothing had prepared Madison to see her again. Her hair was even more red, her clothes brighter and senseless, and she was talking non stop about a purse she saw in Paris, while Cordelia served them some tea.

"It was gorgeous, Little Bird, I'm telling you. I regret not getting it the moment I saw it and I will never forgive Madonna for stealing it from me."

Cordelia giggled, sitting down in the chair next to Madison so they would both be facing Myrtle. "She didn't steal it from you, Myrtle."

The old woman sighed heavly. "Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that I will never found something so perfect like that purse."

Looking at the woman's fashion option, Madison was sure it was something so idious that it would make people burn their eyes out, but Cordelia was laughing and the woman hand't said anything bad at Madison, so she was going to keep her opinion to herself.

"I'm happy to see you accepted our invitation, Ms. Montgomery." Myrtle said after the tea was finished and she was done mourning for the purse.

"You just forgot to tell me I would be the only one here." Madison wasn't mad about it, not anymore, but the woman did made it sound like it was a big ass famous Academy and turns out Madison was the only one there for God knows how long.

Myrtle waved her hand to dismiss the comment. "Cordelia is an amazing tutor, I can already see it. How is your magic going?"

The next time she saw Myrtle, the woman was carrying a very angry Queenie inside the living room. The next time, there was a smiling and curious Nan. She started to hate Myrtle shortly after.

Myrtle and Madison always had a fun relationship. They kinda of hated each other, so their talks were always filled with sarcasm, but in some level they also respected each other. It was different with Fiona, because Madison wanted to be her, or be powerful as her, or even with any of the other girls, who Madison was always forced to interact with. They shared a mutual respect because of Cordelia.

Before Madison lost her shit, she was one of Cordelia’s favorite person in the world, probably only behind Myrtle (if Hank would at least try, he might be on top), and both knew that. So even if they couldn’t stand to look at each other’s face, they still respected the other’s presence and that was the craziest equilibrium ever.

 

* * *

 

“See, it’s not hard.” Cordelia cooed with a grin, squeezing Madison’s shoulder with affection. “I told you, you could do it.”

Even if she was feeling proud inside, Madison still rolled her eyes. She had just managed to do her first potion successfully. It wasn’t easy as telekinesis, she failed in the first five she made, but she finally did one right. “Yes, well, all I had to do was read this.” She pointed at the notebook filled with notes from Cordelia.

“Is more than that.” Cordelia said fondly. “You need to use your magic too. You have to find it inside you.”

“I think I get it.” Madison shook her head. “Can I try transmutation now?”

Her teacher laughed, closing her notebook. “You can, after we have lunch.”

 

* * *

 

"What you wanted to do when you were younger?" Madison took a sip from her soda, watching with curious eyes while Cordelia finished setting the telescope in the roof.

"What do you mean? I'm still young." The woman joked, looking over her shoulder to throw a smile at the other blonde.

Madison rolled her eyes, pulling the popcorn closer to her body. "You just lost the right to eat."

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm older than you, I say who will eat."

"So now you're old?" Madison mocked back.

Cordelia laughed. "Older, not old." She corrected, finally taking a step from the telescope. "There, now we just have to wait."

Cordelia heard about a falling star crossing the sky that night and she took the oportunity to teach astronomy to her student. Madison was surprised to find that when you add magic to it, astronomy was actually interesting, so her teacher found a place were she could borrow a telescope for the night, asked Madison to grab blankets and something to eat, and set their spot in the roof.

"Anyway, I wanted to be a teacher." Cordelia shrugged, sitting by the girl's side.

"So... exactly what you're doing now?"

The older woman laughed at the surprise in Madison's voice, poking her arm. "Yes. I knew I would end up being a teacher at the Academy since a very young age. Myrtle trainned me for it since I learned how to speak."

"You never thought about doing anything else?" Madison put the bowl between them to hug her legs closer to her chest, frowning.

Cordelia considered the question for a while, thinking about her answer. "Well, I did wondered if I could be something else at some point, but I always ended up with being a teacher. Even if I did it without magic, I would still end up in a classroom. Maybe, huge maybe, a scientist of sorts. Why?"

"Just wondering." Madison was wondering a lot. In the last few days, all she was doing was think was about that.

She could still be an actress, she just had to call to the right persons, maybe do some favours, and she would be right back - she had the looks, it wouldn't be hard. But she didn't knew if that was the thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Those months living away from all of it, in peace at the Academy, with no reporters and directors screaming at her, felt like paradise. Her mothet never invested much in her education, neither did her if she was being honest, so Madison really had no clue what was there outside for her aside from acting, something she did since she could remember..

"What do you want to be?" Cordelia asked softly, feeling how nervous the girl had gotten suddenly. "You like being an actress?"

"Yes, it's fun. I gain a lot of presents and attention, and the money is wonderful. And I'm good at it." Madison sighed, grabbing a handful of popcorn. She didn't ate it, she just stared at it for a while. "Is the only thing I know how to do." Her voice was only a whisper, but Cordelia heard her perfectly in the quiet night.

"That's not true. I'm sure you can do a lot of things."

"I don't understand math, I hate history and I don't give a shit about science, so no, acting is the only thing I know."

Cordelia sighed. She leaned closer, gently taking Madison's hands in hers. She guided her hand back to the bowl, encouraging her to drop the popcorn she had grabbed. Madison did it, blushing a little. "You're very smart, Madison. You know everything, you just have to push it a little harder to remember. You can be anything you want. A doctor, a lawyer, engineer, even a singer, if you even want to change the scenario." Madison smiled a little to it. "I'm serious when I say this, Maddie. You are a strong and smart girl and you can be anything you want, you can do anything you want. And if you ever want my help, I'm here. I will search a tutor if you want, buy you some math books," they both made a face to that. "Or help you fill up some college applications. Whatever you need." Cordelia smiled, squeezing her hands. "But I think you're more than capable to do it by yourself."

Madison didn't answered, she couldn't. She felt like a ping pong ball was stuck in her throat and her eyes burned with tears, and she didn’t felt like crying right there. Instead, she looked foward, to the night sky, feeling a peace inside of her that she never felt before. Just when Cordelia was about to talk again, Madison frowned and bit her bottom lip to hold a laugh.

"The star just passed, didn't it?" Cordelia asked, already sighing.

"Yep."


	2. During

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: You might want to take care while reading this, there is mentions of violence, sexual abuse, drugs and alcohol use, and depression.  
> Please, let me know if there are any grammatical mistake!  
> Originally thought after a request on Tumblr, go follow me there, @imagineheadcanonsarea

Cordelia and her talked about a lot of stuff. Minor things at first, like boys and hobbies, but then the woman started to fell more confident to ask her about other things too, like her family and the fact that she had been working since she was two. They also talked about Hank sometimes, Myrtle and, eventually, Cordelia’s mother. Cordelia was the first one to ever know about Madison’s bisexuality, something she never said to anyone because she was too scared of the consequences, especially with her career. She was also the first one to know how scared of clowns Madison was, how she missed home, even if there was no one there that cared about her, and about her heart murmur. Cordelia was worried sick about it and she searched in every place she could so she would learn all about a heart murmur since she wanted to be ready to help if Madison ever needed it – she went far enough to take Madison to three different doctors to get her checked..

They were starting to creat a bond that was more than just teacher-student when Madison overheard a conversation that the other two occupants in the house were having in the kitchen. She didn’t meant to, but Madison heard her name when she was passing by to go to her room and the curiosity took the best on her.

“You’re not her mother, sweetie.” Hank’s voice always sent shivers in Madison’s spine, like she should be scared of him for some reason, but she never actually understood why.

“I know that, Hank, but... but she has no one.” Cordelia sounded like she was sorry, pity even, and Madison felt her heart drop to her stomach.

“You see yourself in her, I get that. Both of you have some crap moms, but you don’t have to be that to her, okay?” There was a stop, but Madison was too shocked to move to keep walking or to see what was going on in the room. “You cancelled our date last night.” Cordelia had spent the night in Madison’s room so they could watch Buffy and laugh. “How are we going to have our kid like this? We have been planning this for years, sweetie, and we’re so close to get there, but how are we going to do this if you keep acting like you owe something to Madison?”

“Hank...”

“I know you. You feel like you owe that to her because you had Myrtle to replace your mother and she has no one. You don’t have to be that person to her, Cordelia.”

If Madison hadn’t run away she could have listen to Cordelia’s soft “I like her, Hank, she’s a good girl and I know I don’t owe her anything, but you can’t blame me for wanting to spent some time with her.”

Madison was back to her shell by the morning and Cordelia never found out what happened. Three months later, Queenie came along, followed by Nan a few weeks later. Suddenly Cordelia had more girls to worry about, more classes to give, more books to distribute. Less time for Madison, even if the girl wasn’t talking with her besides sarcastic comments for a while. The former actress would never admit it out loud, but she missed movie nights and ice creams after lunch.

Everyone could see that Madison had become the rebel teenager every cliche movie had. Cordelia still tried to talk with her like nothing had changed, but all she got back was snapping comments, glares and eye rolls, but Hank started to ignore Madison’s presence all along, not that she cared much about him - Queenie became the perfect target for her and Nan was just a pain in the ass. Madison was alone one more time.

Madison tried not to get bitter with Queenie and Nan, she really did. She told herself, many times, that it wasn’t their fault, that they didn’t had how to know that they weren’t supposed to be there, but something inside of her still made her hate them. Well, hate sounded a little too strong of a word, but that did, for sure, stop Madison of having a nice relationship with them, she could realize it, because she wasn’t dumb as many people could think.

She also didn’t had a good relationship with Fiona. Sure, Madison admired her for her power, but she really hated that bitch with all her heart. Fiona was too much like her own mother, more concerned about herself than with people around her, not giving a shit about her daughter and too busy traveling the world to care. So, yes, Madison admired the Supreme’s figure, but she disliked Fiona and would have punched her in the face if she ever had the chance. And the only other person in the house was Hank, so Madison had literally no one else.

Madison couldn’t deny that during the year she lived alone in the house she was happy, because she was. Truly. She was learning more things about magic, doing stuff she never thought it was possible and she was having a lot of fun. Not to mention that Cordelia became her mother figure, something she would never say out loud, but that she knew deep in her guts.

And even if things were great, it all went to Hell when she found out exactly why Cordelia acted the way she did. Madison felt used, like she was chose to fill a hole in their lifes because they couldn’t have the real deal.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, do you want to go to the ice cream shop?" Cordelia already had her purse, knowing that the girl would never refuse the invitation to eat some delicious ice cream at their favorite place.

"No." Madison was layed down in her bed, her cellphone in her hands, a book by the floor that looked like she had throw it away a while ago.

Cordelia was taken back, a frowning running her face. "Are you feeling okay?" She asked and walked to the girl to put a hand in her forehead – she was sick, that was the only explanations she could think about.

"Don't touch me." Madison knocked Cordelia's hand away from her like it was on fire. "And get out of my room."

"Madison..." The older woman was looking at Madison like she had a second head suddenly. "What is going on? Did I..."

"Get the fuck out."

When Cordelia was out of the door, lost and confused, Madison allowed herself to cry.

 

* * *

 

It wasn't the first time Madison ever used drugs, but it was the first time she was doing it with no intention to stop. She didn't remembered the name of the girl underneath her, but the girl offered her cocaine and Madison just followed her around. The sex wasn't planed, but it was a bonus, so, when the nameless girl poudded some of the cocaine in her stomach, Madison didn't hesitated even for a second before she leaned over to take it, while her fingers kept pounding inside the girl.

Cordelia's face crossed her mind for a second and she wondered what would be her teacher's reaction if she saw her right now - or even find out about the drugs or the pot under her bed. She didn't spent much time considering it, the image of Cordelia and Hank in the kitchen took place and Madison soon found herself accepting some of the ecstasy the girl was handing her.

 

* * *

 

Zoe Benson was just someone else she had to deal with. A new girl, boring, with nothing to offer and placed in her room as a punishment. Madison didn’t want a roommate. She managed to avoid both Queenie and Nan, but, even if they still had plenty of empty rooms, Cordelia still put Zoe in her room. It had to be a punishment for her.

Taking Zoe out to a party in the girl’s first night there was her own way of punish Cordelia back. Take the inoccent, nice and well educated girl out, and make Cordelia regret her decision to let them be together. Nothing ever back fired so fast in her life before. Ironically, Madison heard Cordelia’s voice while the first boy was forcing himself on her, it was low and muffled, in the back of her mind – “don’t ever accept drinks from strangers!” – something her own mother never told her.

Flipping the bus wasn’t the only thing she wanted to do, if she could, Madison would had set the whole thing on fire and explode – when she set the curtain on fire, that was the only thing she could think about. But, at the time, it was impossible, so she just turned around and walked away, thinking about how much she wanted to go home and crawl in bed to cry.

Something broke inside of her, the last thing that made Madison a sweet girl one day maybe, she wasn’t sure, she just knew something was deeply wrong with her. It also didn’t help that Zoe decided to tell people about it and it, for sure, didn’t help when Fiona pretended it was nothing. It was something. It happened to her, didn’t the woman cared about her own Coven? Who would she boss around if there was no Coven at all?

Cordelia never heard about it and Zoe’s guilty finally acted, so she kept her mouth shut. Madison was happy. The woman didn’t needed to know about it.

 

* * *

 

Misty Day was the first person she ever saw after coming back to life for the first time. Madison had no clue who that woman was, or why she was so close, or even what the hell was going on, but something about her made the girl calm down and don’t freak out. She still needed her cigarette though. Madison remembered only small pieces of information about what happened, but she knew enough to find out how she ended up like a corpse.

Fiona didn’t liked her, it was obvious since the beggining, but she also didn’t liked the old woman, so it was fine. Of course Madison wasn’t expecting to have her throat open with a scissor in Fiona’s hand, especially after they shared such a fun night. Madison felt stupid. While they drank, danced and laughed, she honestly felt like Fiona was her friend, and she let her guard down. It proved to be fatal. It would be, one day, since Madison was used to be let down by people, even if being murdered was news for her.

Zoe was worried about her. She kept following Madison around like she was a bomb about to explode when her zombie boy wasn’t demanding her attention, but the former actress couldn’t care enough to talk to her. Madison still felt numb, like she was still dead.

Numb. Her stomach could barely keep anything inside, everything tasted like nothing in her mouth and her fingers felt like a strange body when she touched something. It was like her body wasn't hers anymore and it was fucking scary.

 

* * *

 

“Hey.”

Madison almost ran away when she heard Misty’s voice approaching her. She was sitting by the porch, smoking her fourth cigarette while watching the people walking around like they didn’t had a problem in the world, feeling a little jealous of the simple life some of them seemed to have. Madison never had a simple life, she always had to follow scheduals, attend her obligations and work hard, and life wasn’t getting easier for her – being killed could be used as an example.

“How are ya feeling?”

The younger girl considered the question for a couple of seconds, not sure about the answer in her head. It seemed like she didn’t actually ‘felt’ anything. “Why do you care?”

Misty sat by her side, shrugged and rubbed her hands in her dress. “I have been there. I know how it feels.”

“You know fuck.” Madison scoffed, trying to sound mad, even if her eyes were tearing up. Why didn’t she felt anything? “Leave me alone.”

The Cajun didn’t said anything for a few minutes. She just sat in silence while Madison finished her cigarette and pulled another one out, watching how the wind blew the leaves in the trees. “I won’t.” She promissed, finally.

Madison looked a little surprised with the honest answer. “The hell?”

“Cause I know ya don’t want that, Madison.” Misty sighed. “Ya don’t wanna be alone, dosen’t matter how hard ya say that to yourself.”

“Oh, please, light me with your wisdom about myself, stupid bitch.”

Misty ignored the harshness. “I can feel your soul, Madison.”

“And what the exact fuck is that supposed to mean?”

The older woman slowly turned her head to face Madison, a sad smile in place. “I never saw such a lonely soul.”

 

* * *

 

To see Cordelia’s disfigured face was a shock. It was the first feeling that Madison felt after she came back from Hell and, as most things in her life, it wasn’t something good. For the first time since she overheard Hank in the kitchen, Madison held back her comments. She could see that Cordelia was already beaten herself up enough, the last thing she needed was Madison making things worse for her.

So, instead, she spent her days locked in her room or running after Kyle, trying to get his attention. If Madison actually payed any attention to her own feelings, she would have noticed it wasn’t Kyle she was trying to get with, she would have realized she was only chasing him because she wanted someone else attention to herself. But she didn’t, because feelings was something Madison ran away from, so she kept pushing, until Kyle finally fucked her against a wall, rough and sloppy, like he had no idea what he was doing, but was still willing to do – later that night she wondered if he, in fact, had no idea what they did, since he was a big baby after all.

And yet, Madison felt nothing. Sure, having the boy’s dick inside her made things more exciting, but the feeling left her body so fast that she wasn’t even sure she even felt it in first place. Madison wasn’t used to it. She was used to the lack of good emotions, but she always felt something, like anger – most of the time, to be honest. The fact that she couldn’t anymore scared the hell out of her.

Laying in her bed later that night, when Zoe was gone, helping Kyle to shower or whatever, Madison allowed herself to think. Unsurprisingly, she wished she still could go talk with Cordelia. She would know what to do, she would know what’s wrong with her. Even if she would only pretend to care.

 

* * *

 

Madison walked down the stairs that morning with more confidence than she did the other day. Small victory. Everyone was missing. She heard Zoe waking up before the sun raised, the girl left the room shortly after and hadn’t return until Madison left. Even if she wasn’t sure, Madison could bet she was with her love boy. With a sigh, she entered the kitchen, searching for her beloved coffee.

She stoped in her tracks when she saw Cordelia standing in the kitchen counter, blindly moving her hands around. Madison spoted a empty mug about two inches from her hand and she knew what was about to happen before it even did. Cordelia moved her hand again and, even if it was slow and calculated, she knocked the mug out of the counter. Her hand retracted back to her chest like it was burned and her whole body flinched while she waited for the noise to echoed throught the house.

It never happened.

Quickier than she thought she could, Madison raised her hand, thinking about the simple spell Cordelia teached years ago, and the mug stoped just before it hit the hard floor. She saw how Cordelia’s head moved to the side, confused, while she wondered why the cup hand’t broken like it was obvious it would.

“Misty?”

Madison could hear the uncertain in her voice. Cordelia wasn’t the most confident person to ever step in the world, or in the house, but she never sounded so defenceless. Instead of saying anything, Madison walked to the sink, moving her hand so the mug would follow her until she could grab it. Quietly, she slidded the tea pack to herself, picked one and placed in the mug, before taking the kettle to add the hot water in it.

“Madison.” It wasn’t a question, so the girl didn’t aswered it, but she almost smiled. She saw Cordelia making tea inumerous times before and, even if she hadn’t done one herself, she knew just how the woman liked it – and even if the woman couldn’t see her, she knew it was Madison. She knew.

The younger blonde worked in silence, putting two spoons of honey in the mug, mixing it together and slidding it back to Cordelia. Madison wondered how the woman was able to grab all the ingredients and turn on the stove without blowing up the kitchen, but she wasn’t going to ask her any questions about it. It was already hard enough to see Cordelia’s face, her empty eyes, she didn’t need the descrition to go with it.

Madison held the mug until Cordelia’s fingers closed around it, then the actress finally let it go and took a step back. “Thank you.” The woman said, taking the tea closer to her. Madison opened her mouth to say something, but shut it fast again. She looked around the kitchen, finally spotting the coffee pot in the corner. “I smelled coffee earlier.” Cordelia offered. “I think Zoe did some.”

Cordelia always made coffee to her students. She prefered if they drank tea, but she knew she couldn’t expect that from Madison, and then Zoe showed up, and Cordelia finally gave in. But Madison figured she couldn’t do it now. A shame, she made the best coffee.

With a sigh, Madison grabbed a cup from the cabinet, put some coffee in it and walked away. She saw a wild blonde hair with her corner of her eyes and she knew it was Misty coming inside. Cordelia would be fine.

 

* * *

 

Madison wasn’t thinking when she hit Misty’s head with the brick. Well, she was thinking, to be honest, but she wasn’t considering what the hell she was doing. She was killing a person. She was taking someone else life. Sure, Misty didn’t die with the impact in her head, but she was going to die in the coffin, and even if Madison knew it, she still turned her back and walked away like Misty was less than a fly.

It didn’t hit her until she finally got home and saw Cordelia. She had new eyes, Myrtle got her a few days ago, and she was searching for something when Madison crossed the door.

“Hi, Madison.” Cordelia’s old smile was back. It has been a while since Madison last saw it. Before Queenie, before Nan, before she freaked out. “Did you see Misty? She asked me if I could show her...”

“I haven’t.” Madison cut her short, crossing her arms. Cordelia’s smile dropped a little, her eyes running around the room like she was expecting – no, hoping – that the other woman would just jump from one of the corners. “What is this suddenly interest in the Swamp bitch? Are you looking for someone else to screw over?” She didn’t gave Cordelia the chance to say anything, Madison just turned around and walked upstairs.

It was enough, though, to see the look in Cordelia’s face. Hurt. She was hurt with Madison’s words. Cordelia was the first person that ever cared about her, even if she was pretending or using Madison, and that was something the girl couldn’t lie about. Cordelia cared about her and she clearly cared about Misty as well. And Madison just hit Misty’s head with a brick and let her to die suffocated in a coffin – which, by the way, was supposed to be used by someone else - in the middle of a cemitery.

Madison was able to ran to her room before she let anyone see the single tear rolling down her face. It wasn’t fair, she knew it. Misty was a good person and she didn’t deserve to die, and Cordelia didn’t deserved to lost her only friend, or whatever Misty was to her. But it also wasn’t fair to have to do it, Madison thought. Fiona was very clear when she said there was only one Supreme and the woman thought it was her, Madison. That’s why the old bat killed her in the first place. Fiona let it clear that it’s how things worked in the Coven and Madison wasn’t going to lie and say she didn’t want to be the Supreme. The most powerful witch in the world, Fiona once told her. Yes, she wanted that, deep down she wondered if in fact she actually needed it more than wanted it, but that wasn’t the point. The point is that she killed her competition, just like Fiona showed her how.

She craved the power, the control that would come with being the Supreme. Control was not something she had much in her life before and it was only getting worse with time – first with the college boys, than with Fiona, than with Spalding. Spalding, the fucking jerk, that kept her dead body to his own sick pleasure. Madison didn’t knew what he has done to her and maybe she didn’t wanted to know, but that was just something else to add to the giant list of things she had lost control off.

Madison only wanted it back.

 

* * *

 

She wasn’t surprised that Misty was mad at her when she came back - Madison was still mad at herself to be fair – but she was surprised when the woman punched her in the face. Madison never got into a fisical fight with anyone in her life, so she had no clue how to deffend herself or attack back. Misty was strong and she was mad, and Madison wished Cordelia had stoped her to do it, because her mouth and ribs were sore for days after that.

She knew it had to exist a spell that would make the pain and marks go away, but she would have to ask Cordelia about it, and the last thing she wanted was to do it. Cordelia let her be beaten up, she wasn’t worried about her before and she wouldn’t be after the bruises appeared in her pale skin, so no, Madison was not going to ask for her help with that. Instead, she popped some pain killers with vodka and hope not to die again.

Zoe had no reasons to be worried about her, not after every shit Madison had pulled, but she was the one who offered the pain pills in the first place and, even if she didn’t said a thing when Madison swallowed them down with the vodka, she still sticked around until it was clear the blonde wasn’t going to kill herself with those.

The reason why Cordelia didn’t said a thing only occured to Madison five days later, when she was out to buy another bottle of vodka, standing behind some old lady holding a walker. Cordelia couldn’t see her. The woman stabbed her own eyes to find Misty and now she was blind again, which meant she couldn’t see her bruises. Madison sighed when the lady walked until she was the next in line. Well, Cordelia was also not going to see the empty bottle in the trash tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

Madison felt something inside of her break when she saw Cordelia crying over what should be Misty’s body. Ashes. Dead, again. That was what? The third, forth time? And Cordelia never stoped crying. Madison wondered why she was so sure Misty was the next Supreme and why the woman allowed Swampie to do anything that would risk her own life when it was clear how much she cared about her. She stabbed her own eyes, after all, just to find Misty and bring her back to life, and she didn’t even knew for sure that she was dead.

Madison got up from her seat. She saw how some of the ashes around Cordelia moved with the wind that her movenment caused and stayed still for a couple of seconds. Misty was dead. That was it, she wasn’t the Supreme, which means it was either Zoe, Queenie or her – in the back of her mind she remembered about the other two witches in the room.

“Cordelia, she’s gone.” Myrtle knew. Of course she knew, how couldn’t she? Cordelia was like her own daugther, the woman wouldn’t be so obvious to let that slip of her mind. So why would she make things worse? “We have to keep going.”

They didn’t had to, Madison thought. Cordelia didn’t looked like she wanted, neither did Zoe. Madison recalled the image of Fiona in her head. The most powerful witch in the planet. She had the money, the power, people around her, everything Madison thought was necessary, but she didn’t had no one crying for her like Cordelia was crying over Misty’s ashes.

A few hours later, with Kyle’s hands around her neck, Madison thought about the irony of it all. She spent most of her life being teached to be like Fiona, to seek for control, to boss people around, to have power and fame, until she met Cordelia. Cordelia teached her about all the other stuff in life that her own mother never bothered to do and she showed her a way that Madison didn’t even knew it existed. Madison had everything to be different and in the end she was just like Fiona.

She wondered, just before her lung stoped fighting, if anyone was going to cry over her body.

She knew the true.


	3. After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: You might want to take care while reading this, there is mentions of violence, sexual abuse, drugs and alcohol use, and depression.  
> Please, let me know if there are any grammatical mistake!  
> Originally thought after a request on Tumblr, go follow me there, @imagineheadcanonsarea

Seeing Cordelia again was like seeing the moon, at least, the calm feeling was the same. Madison knew it sounded like shit, but that’s how she felt. When she walked the big unsheltered land with Michael her heart was beating so fast that she almost fainted. The last time she saw Cordelia, the woman had those awefull scars around her eyes and she was still crying because Misty was dead. It has been what? A year? Two? So yes, she was nervous to see the woman again, even more after Queenie told her about her being the Supreme.

Madison wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t at least a little shocked about it, but she understood. Cordelia teached everything there was to know about magic. She teached her spells, potions, and history of magic, grabbed her by the hand and guided her in every step. She was surprised because the woman herself never showed too much ability in magic, not more than anyone else – even less than Madison for a while – but the younger blonde knew it was the best thing that ever happened to that Coven.

If Cordelia was still half the woman she was when Madison met her, she was going to protect the Coven with every bit of strenght left in her. Just when she spoted Myrtle’s wild red locks, Madison wondered what she would have done if it was her. If destiny made the mistake to choose Madison as the Supreme, would she do anything like Cordelia or would she just be another Fiona?

When Cordelia fainted, she got her answer. She would always have some of Fiona in her, no matter how hard she tried to change.

 

* * *

 

Seeing Misty again was like seeing the sun, at least, the warm feeling was the same. Her body came back from nothing. It was air and suddenly she was there, and Madison couldn’t remember the last time she saw Cordelia smile so bright like in that moment. She was also happy, even if she was pretending she wasn’t, because, fucking shit, Misty was back. The woman looked exactly the same, even her old clothes, and it brought a nostalgic feeling that Madison wasn’t ready for.

Madison remembered about what Mallory told her in the time they were stuck doing some research in the library together. From everyone that was there before Cordelia raised as the Supreme, Zoe was the only one that managed to stay alive. Nan died, Misty died, Madison died, Queenie died. Cordelia lost girl after girl and now she had almost everyone back, of course she would be happy about it, but the way she was locking eyes with Misty had to mean something else and Madison knew it.

In fact, she was sure everyone in the room knew it.

 

* * *

 

“Tomorrow is a big day.”

“Just the end of the world, not too much.” Madison was sarcastic as easily as she breathed, like a second nature.

Cordelia sighed, sitting by her side in the dirty porch to look at the swamps with her. They could see a few animals around the area, some half dead plants that weren’t receiving the care they needed and Myrtle, in the distance, talking by herself while she digged a hole - they would need three of those. “A common day at work.” The Supreme agreeded with a plain voice.

The emptyness in her voice made Madison considerer what exactly she was doing there, but she came with nothing. “Did you signed up for this shit?”

“They didn’t gave a manual, to be honest.” Cordelia frowned, shaking her head while tapping her fingers in her thighs. “I suppose the last Supreme should have done it, but she probably drank it.”

Madison couldn’t stop the scoff that came. Fiona was the most stupid bitch that ever walked on Earth and they all met LaLaurie. “Yes, well, she had a very large tolerance to it.”

They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, watching Myrtle waving her hands to send the flies away while a frog approached her feet in fast jumps. “Madison, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

“What do you mean? From the Apocalypse? To be fear, you didn’t saved anyone yet.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes, suddenly amused. “Yes, sorry I couldn’t save you from the one thing I can’t do anything about.”

“So... what are we doing here anyway?”

“Converting it in a spa, what do you thought we were doing?”

Madison laughed, before reaching her side to grab the cigarette pack. She lighted one using her power and blew the smoke away. “Nice one.”

The Supreme also giggled and looked down to her feets, deep in mud, with a grimace. “I’m serious, though. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you from Fiona, from Spalding, from Kyle and from Michael now. It seems like all I have done in life was let people down somehow... you specifically.”

The younger girl took a deep breath, feeling an ache in her chest that wasn’t there before. It was new to feel anything other than emptyness since she came back to life the first time, so, even if it was painful, it was welcome. “I’m pretty sure nothing of this was your fault.”

“Fiona was my mother and she killed you, Spalding lived under my roof, I let Kyle stay and I provoked Michael enough for him to decided to blow the world away, so I have to desagree with you.” Cordelia shrugged.

Madison remained in silence until her cigarette was gone. She wanted to smoke another one, but stay in a hole in the ground for Goddess knows how long smelling like that would be more torture than she was willing to sign up for. “I made my life choices.”

“You were young, Madison.”

“I wouldn’t have listened to you if you tried.” The girl took a while to hug her knees to her chest. “Besides, nothing of this matters. We’re going to die anyway.”

“I’m sorry.” Cordelia turned her face to look at her. The woman’s eyes were filled with tears that they both knew were about to fall and she held so many feelings in them that Madison was uncapable of looking away. “I’m sorry I let all of that happen to you and I’m sorry so much more will happen. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to send you with Mallory and Coco, I’m sorry you will have to go throught this with me. Sometimes I still see you holding your suitcase in front of the Academy, waiting for me.”

“Don’t go there, Cordy.” Madison shook her head. “The last thing we need is this pity party going on here. There was nothing you could do and it dosen’t matter anymore, the Antichrist is right in the corner.” She sighed heavly. “Besides, I rather be here than in some bunker under the floor.”

‘With you’ was implied, but Cordelia saw it in Madison’s green eyes.

 

* * *

 

"I will hold him back as long as I can." Madison was scared, her body was shivering and the cold sweat was not helping her situation, but she knew she had to do it.

Coco wouldn't do it, they needed Mallory and Cordelia to be alive to perform the spell, and Myrtle would be more useful than Madison, so yes, it had to be her. Besides, she was already holding the gun. Madison knew she was going to die again, she wasn't strong enough to hold the Antichrist - no one could probably - and death was the only way out.

She really wasn't expecting Cordelia to react the way she did. The Supreme, her mentor, walked towards her and placed a soft hand im her cheeks. The look in her eyes were something Madison have not see for a very long time and it made her heart skeep a beat: pride. And love. Cordelia was proud of her, for what exactly Madison wasn't sure, because she literally was doing one good thing between all the fucked up shit she ever done. Madison felt like she didn't deserved that feeling, even if she was enjoying it.

"Go." Her voice was a little weak, not at all holding the strenght she wanted and it wasn't helping that it made Cordelia's eyes softer. "Go."

The way Cordelia looked at her made her go weak in the knees. She was about to die, she knew it and Cordelia also knew it. Madison had done a lot of fucked up things through life, most of them involving Cordelia, and yet the woman trusted her. She trusted her to sent Madison to the Murder House to find informations about Michael, she trusted Madison to go back to the Coven even after she had done, and she trusted Madison now, even if she had no reason to. The younger blonde realized, just there, with Michael’s body behind her, blood all over the place, and Cordelia soft face right in front of her, that the Supreme was the only person she had in the world. She had no one else, she had no family, all she had was Cordelia and it had been like that for years now.

Suddenly, Madison wished she had agreeded with the ice cream the last time Cordelia asked. She would gave up everything to go back and accept it.

“I’m sorry.” Madison didn’t even realized she said it until Cordelia took a step closer, caressing her cheek with her thumb. “Delia, go.”

 

* * *

 

It was the second time she woke up and found Misty right in front of her. It wasn’t the way she wanted it to be, but at least it was Misty and not Michael, so she was not going to complain about it.

“Hey, Maddie.” Misty had a huge smile while waving at Madison like she was across the street and not right in her face.

“Don’t call me like that.” Madison’s voice was a little hoarse, like she hadn’t used it for a while. She took a deep breath and started to get up, ignoring Misty’s hands trying to help her. Once she was up, she saw Cordelia standing right behind Misty with teary eyes and crossed arms looking like she was trying to hug herself. Mallory was also there and she had a shy smile that didn’t fit her. “Family reunion, I see.”

Cordelia ran to her before Madison could think about what she was doing. The woman huged her strongly and warm, holding Madison against her body like she was afraid the girl would disappear. “Oh, Madison.” She was crying.

Oh, boy. Madison hugged her back, even if she was blushing a little, and looked at Misty, who had a happy smile while watching them. “Ok, enough.” The former actress wiggled out of the hug and took a few steps back to creat some distance.

Cordelia wasn’t having it, so she just kept Madison’s hand in hers. “How are you feeling? Are you ok?”

“I feel like I had just come back from Hell again.” Madison rolled her eyes. “And I need a cigarette.” Before she could move, Misty reached her arm to her and Madison saw she was holding a cigarette packet towards her. Madison grabbed it once Cordelia released her. “I don’t know who went to get me, but fuck you.”

Misty giggled, but Cordelia didn’t enjoyed the joke. “You need to rest, come on, you can have your old room.”

Madison held her back by her hand when Cordelia tried to walk away. “Actually... do you want to go to the ice cream shop?” She didn't know why she asked, especially because there was other people around, but the proud look in Cordelia's face right before she sacrificed herself flashed in her eyes and she knew she did the right thing.

 

* * *

 

“Love is a very hard thing to find, Madison, and, when you do, you don’t want to lose any time.” Cordelia had a sad smile that made Madison’s heart ache for her, suddenly feeling sorry for her mentor. “Believe in me.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Cordy.” Madison knew, of course she knew. Since she came back, five weeks before, all she had done was follow Zoe around with puppy eyes that reminded everyone of Kyle, like she was desesperate for the girl to notice something that she wasn’t ready to say out loud.

“Just keep that in mind.” Cordelia leaned over the table to squeeze Madison’s hand that wasn’t holding the ice cream cone. “I lost a long time just because I was scared and I don’t want you to pass for the same strugle.”

Madison sighed, unconfortable with the conversation and where it was leading. She knew what was the right thing to do, but that never meant she would do it. Her life was a mistake after the other. “You never told who brought me back.”

The Supreme ate a bit of her own ice cream before answering. “Mallory did.”

“And what was Swampie doing there?”

“She wanted to.” Cordelia shrugged. “She was with me when Mallory told us.”

“Told you what?”

Her mentor took a few seconds to respond, not very sure how honest she should be. “About the Apocalypse and everything that happened before, during and after. She told us she negotiated to take Misty out and... not you.”

Madison knew the girl wasn’t her fan, most people hated her and she was used to that by now, but it was a little fucked up to leave her in Hell just because of that. But again, she did killed Misty at some point so... “Maybe she had a reason to.”

“It dosen’t matter what she thought, Madison. She was wrong. She should had took you out with Misty the second she got the chance and we both made it very clear to her.” Cordelia shook her head, showing how disappointed she still was. “Misty said she should go get you imediatly and she wasn’t going to leave until you was out of Hell, that’s why she was there.”

Madison took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders once, and tapped the floor with her foot, all nervous habits, before nodding. “Well, Hell wasn’t fun so... I’m glad someone did.”

 

* * *

 

Zoe’s head was laying her head in her lap, eyes closed and a soft hum leaving the back of her throat in pleasure because of the hand caressing her hair. Madison was looking at her like she was a pure miracle – the more beautiful and cute miracle in the world. Cordelia had her good moments of advice master, not that she needed to know that. Zoe had one of her hands around Madison’s thigh, while holding Madison’s free hand with the other, making sure they were touching each other in every place possible for their position.

“Cordelia wanted to talk with me today.” Zoe said out of sudden, trying to move only slightly because she was too confortable.

“She always wants to talk with everyone everytime.” Madison joked, poking the brunette’s nose.

Zoe giggled and turned around so she was facing the girl’s stomach. When she thought it couldn’t get better... Madison was so fucking soft, not fair. “She mom me.”

“She what?” The former actress let a nervous laugh scape. “Is that some sexual shit?”

“Gross.” Zoe sneered. “No! I meant she gave me the ‘mom’ talk.”

“And what exactly is that?”

“She told me that if I ever hurt you, I’m in trouble.”

Madison was surprised by it. To be honest, she thought she would be the one being told to be a perfect gentleman towards Zoe or she would be kicked in the butt, not the other way around. She had no clue that would happen or even why Cordelia thought she needed to do that.

“When is my time to go?” She was using sarcasm again, because that’s how she manage to go through most things in life.

Zoe smiled softly. “She cares about you, Mad. I’m fine with having Cordelia as my mother in law, she’s nice and we won’t have to travel to visit her in holidays.”

“Shut up.” Madison rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She was glad Zoe still had her eyes closed so she wouldn’t see that she was blushing.

“Besides, I’m too much of an angel for you to do anything wrong, so no talk for you.”

 

* * *

 

"Hey, Supreme." Madison walked inside Cordelia's office like it was her own, without knocking or waiting for an invitation.

Cordelia was used to that by that point, but that didn't stoped her from jump in her chair when the door suddenly opened. "Hello, Madison. What do I owe the pleasure of your presence this early in the morning? Did Zoe kicked you out?"

"She does that everynight, but no." Madison scoffed, sitting in the big confortable chair in front of Cordelia's desk. "I thought about what you asked me."

That made Cordelia stop completly, dropping her papers and pen, and taking her glasses out. "Okay." She considered it for a second. "Did you made up your mind?"

"I could do it." Madison nodded, crossing her arms in her chest. "And, to be honest, you could use someone who's good looking in your council."

"I will let Zoe know it." Cordelia laughed.

"Oh, please. She already kicked me out for tonight, you can't make it worse." The younger girl joked and rolled her eyes.

The Supreme watched closely how the girl's face started to get more and more serious, and a very know glow showed up in her eyes. Madison was about to say something that made her unconfortable. "But...?" She offered.

Madison sighed. "Why would you want me to be a part of your council?" She tried to act cool about it, but Cordelia could see that she cared with the answer. "I mean, Zoe and Queenie are teachers, it makes sense that they're your council. I was just wondering."

Cordelia hummed, before agreeing with a nod. "Yes, it does makes sense. Well, Madison, why do you think you couldn't be a part of this council?"

The younger blonde shrugged. "I don't know." Cordelia arched her eyebrowns at her. "I don't think I have anything to offer. I'm not a teacher, technically I'm not even a part of the coven since I'm also not a student."

"You are a part of this coven just like any other girl." Cordelia jumped quickly to stop her. "You're not a student, but you were once, and you're a witch, and you will be a part of this coven as long as you want." The Supreme's voice was sharp and it was clear to Madison that the subject wasn't open to discussion. "And I think that you could have some thoughts that could help us, so that's why I want you to be in my council."

"I don't see how, but..." Madison added quickly before Cordelia could say anything: "I'm not saying no, I'm just going to suggest you something."

Cordelia also crossed her arms, a proud smirk in the corner of her mouth. "What is it?"

"I'm going to college."

"What?" That took the older woman completly out of guard, her eyebrowns shot up in surprise.

Madison almost laughed. "You think I can't?"

"No, no, no, it's not it!" Cordelia jumped in her chair, moving her hands nervously. "I just... wasn't expecting it."

"Yes, well, me neither." She joked and shrugged. "I was thinking about it for a few weeks now, not that I thought I would ever do it, but Zoe told me I should try if I want."

Cordelia smiled and got up, walking around her desk to sit in the chair by Madison's side. "Zoe is right."

"As always, but don't tell her that."

The Supreme laughed, throwing her head in delighty. "I think she already knows that, but sure, I will let you live in the illusion." She shook her head, still smiling like crazy. "So what do you want to do in college?"

"Ideally, party." Cordelia rolled her eyes, making Madison grin. "Joking, geez. I want to go to law school."

"Law school? Where did that came from?"

"Remember when I asked you if you ever wanted to do anything besides work in here?"

"Yes, I remember that. We lost the falling star." The Supreme smiled to the memory.

"Not my fault, but anyway... I didn't thought much about it back then, I never thought about the future, to be honest. But recently..." Madison took a deep breath. "Recently I started to think about it."

"Can I ask what caused this change?" She didn't had to wait for the answer, because when the girl blushed she knew exactly what happened. "Did I ever told you that Zoe Benson is a blessing?"

A even darker shade of red coloured Madison's skin and she bit her lip before recovering her composture. "What do you think? This way I could help in the Academy and not be just a part of the council. I know we're expending a lot of money with lawyers, and they don't know magic and us, so I thought I could help out... with that."

"Is that really what you want to do?" Cordelia leaned in her chair, resting her elbows in her knees, to hold the girl's hands in hers.

"I think so, yes." Madison never sounded so insecure before and, if the subject wasn't so serious, Cordelia could have squeezed her cheeks like a baby.

"Ok." Cordelia nodded with a soft smile. "I will help you with the college application. This Coven will be more than pleased to pay for your education, since it's for us." She thought how silly she was for almost cry in front of Madison, but she never felt so proud before. "And if you ever decides you want more, you want to go out and have your own office or something, I won't hold that against you. I'm the only one stuck here." She joked.

Madison rolled her eyes. "Like you're complaining."

"Never." Cordelia dropped her hands and got up. "Now, come on, give me a hug."

"No way."

"Yes way!" The Supreme laughed happly. "I'm so proud of you, Madison."

"I didn't even started yet. Maybe no usiversity will want me."

"They're fools if they do that. Besides, I'm proud because you finally saw a future for yourself like I always had. So, please, give this old lady a hug already!"

 

* * *

 

“Heya." Misty, as always, had a big smile and was almost dancing instead of walking, but Madison had come to terms with that - she would pretend to be annoyed, but find it cute secretly. "What'cha doing?"

"Pancakes." Madison huffed, rolling her eyes. "What do you think I'm doing?"

Misty looked over the desk to the dozens of papers spread on the surface. "That seems like a very complicated recipe."

The former actress opened her mouth to say something, and be rude, when she realized the other woman was just mocking her. "What do you want, Swampie? I'm busy, I have a test tomorrow."

"Zoe told me. She said I should stay away."

"You should also listen to her." Madison whispered, turning the page in her book. "Why are you here?"

"I want to help you." Misty shrugged, putting both of her hands behind her back and bouncing in her feets like a small child waiting for the treat.

Madison scoffed. "Yes, right, go away then."

"When I was a kid..."

"Oh, here we go."

Misty ignored her. "I used to be very bad in math... in fact, I'm still very bad in math. Anyway, momma..."

"The one that burned you at the stake?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "That one. She used to help me to study by using cards."

"I already have plenty of those, so you can leave now." Madison grabbed a pile of papers and colored cards from the table to make her point, before dropping them with a little too much strenght. Zoe actually helped her with those. College was taking a lot from her. She spent all week away to attend her classes and would be back by friday night, tired and stressed, only to find her girlfriend ready to cover her with kisses and gentle words. Zoe would even go throught her books and make her some flashcards when she had some time.

"Yes, but no one is helping ya. That's why I'm here!"

The younger girl stared at her for a total of eight seconds, before saying: "fuck off." Misty only nodded and pulled the chair in front of Madison with a sarcastic smile, sitting down and putting her hands behind her head. "Where are we starting?"

Madison would never admit she thanked Misty when she got every fucking question right.

 

* * *

 

"I promissed Zoe I would wait until dessert, but what the hell is this?"

Zoe quickly used the back of her hand to smack Madison's thigh. "You couldn't wait even five minutes?"

"They're the ones who called us for dinner in private." The blonde deffended herself. "Don't say no one was thinking about asking." Madison’s graduation was just a few days ahead and she still had some finals to study to, so it would be great if they could do it a little bit faster.

"Some of us have manners." Queenie shot back, arching her eyebrown.

"Girls." Cordelia interjected and rolled her eyes. "We will tell you after dinner." She promissed, moving to take her glass closer to her.

"You're pregnant." Madison accused before she could move. Zoe and Queenie looked like Jesus had just popped in the table, while Cordelia was the perfect image of a deer in the red lights.

"What?! Is this true?!" Zoe asked, ready to rise from her chair and run to her Supreme.

Cordelia layed back in her chair and crossed her arms, looking at Madison with a grin. "If Madison wasn't so impatiente..." the woman accused. "Yes, I am."

"Holy fuck!" Queenie shouted.

"Language!" Was all Cordelia could say before finding herself stuck in a bear hug between Queenie and Zoe.

Madison watched with studying eyes while they laughed and cried together, before moving her eyes to Misty, who was watching her with a glad smile. They locked eyes, neither of them dared to move, and stayed like that until Zoe snapped them out of it.

"Maddie, isn't that great?" Save the girl's soul, trying to help Madison to be nice.

"Just peach." The former actress said and got up. There was an old feeling rushing back in her guts and she wanted to leave before she said anything out of pain that she would regret later. She felt abandoned all over again.

Madison managed to get to the porch and pull out a cigarette before anyone could find her. She sighed when she saw the coloured dress with the corner of her eyes, because the last thing she wanted was someone who could understand her. She didnt wanted to talk, she didn't wanted to think about the unwelcome feeling. She knew she didn't had the right.

But Misty didn't said anything when she sat by her side, even if Madison was still on her feets, the Cajun only stayed there, looking at the street and the people that walked by, being a strong presence, even if she was trying not to be.

Madison only spoke after her third cigarette and Misty didn't tried to stop her at any point. "I'm happy for you."

"I know. So does Delia, I'm sure." The wild-haired woman, as always, was holding her gentle smile in place, her eyes shinning bright when she spoke. "How do you feel about being a older sister?"

Madison let a shaken breath rush out with a nervous laugh. She turned her head so she could look at the woman with blue eyes and her snap comment died in her throat. Misty's eyes were loving, something only two other people did towards her, and Madison almost cried. A thought rushed in her mind and she blushed a little. Mallory, the girl that turned the Academy upside down, looked like a copy of Misty, except for her eyes. The girl could be her daugther with Cordelia and no one would be surprised, she had Misty's looks and Cordelia's mind. But, as much as the girl looked like them, so did Madison, in a way. She imagined a small little blonde girl running around the house or hugging Cordelia's legs, actually their kid, and Madison sighed again.

"Maddie." Misty called softly. The girl only arched her eyebrown, wanting to show her to talk. "How do you feel about being an older sister?"

Madison knew that she was asking more than just if she was happy with the news. She wanted to know if Madison was in the same page with them. She was. "Happy."

 

* * *

 

“I have never being prouder.” Cordelia’s voice was right in her ear, warm and carying, making Madison’s heart swollen in happiness, while her arms were around the girl so hard that it suppressed her attempts to pull away.

Misty was right behind the Supreme, her same happy smile in place, a hand in Cordelia’s shoulder and the other one in Madison’s. “Ya did it! The first one to graduate in the family!”

“Oh my God!” Cordelia shouted in her ear. “It’s true!”

Madison rolled her eyes, shooting a ‘help me’ look to Zoe, but the girl only laughed at her face. “Yes, well, if you all wouldn’t be so lazy...” She offered and tried to brush both of them off, but they weren’t having it.

“Madison...” Cordelia pulled away only enough to put both of her hands in Madison’s face. For a second, she saw the lost sixteen years girl who showed up in front of her house someday, and it only made her cry harder. “I love you so much, sweetie. You did it! I’m so proud!”

“Fuck.” Madison blushed hard and tried to push her away, but Cordelia only hugged her again. “Ok, people are staring.”

“I don’t give a shit!”

“Please, stop crying.” The younger blonde was slightly in panic with the comotion and Queenie didn’t waste a second to laugh out loud in her face.

“I just think how fun it is that the girl is not even born yet and she will have a lawyer to beat up. Cordelia should have being faster.”

“You’re jealous.” Madison mumbled under her breath, raising her middle finger towards the black girl.

Misty jokingly slapped her hand, before pulling Cordelia and her in her arms, taking advantage of how much taller she was then both of them. “Let’s celebrate!”

Madison was sure that her idea of celebration involved Stevie Nicks and there was no way in hell she would do that, so she finally managed to wiggle out of their hugs, rushing towards Zoe to ocuppy her arms before the older womans could do that to her again. “I’m fine, thanks.” Zoe giggled, hidding her face in Madison’s hair.

“No way! This is very important, we need to have a proper celebration.” Cordelia was now hugging Misty, both were crying, still staring at Madison like she was some sort of Goddess.

Madison looked at them, then to Zoe, and a fullfill feeling rushed towards her body. Her heart was full, her soul was happy. She was home. “What about... ice cream?”


End file.
